October 23, 2006

Weather hampers work on deck and project plans

Unseasonably cool temperatures and heavy rainfall have delayed completion of maintenance work on the parking deck in downtown La Grange, Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn reported at tonight's town meeting.

The upper level of the deck has been closed to parking for nearly a month as work crews apply a sealant intended to protect its concrete from erosion caused by the very kind of weather that has caused the delay.

Pilipiszyn said it was hoped that temperatures would rise above 50 degrees long enough for work to be completed, otherwise it would be necessary to postpone the work until spring of next year.

While the upper level of the deck would reopen for the winter during an extended delay, public parking now available on the site of the former International House of Pancakes might not be there when work on the deck resumes next spring if a residential/retail development planned for that lot moves forward.

The current delay also is preventing the Village from making an accurate count of evening and overnight use of the parking deck, which it needs in order to evaluate use of the deck in various scenarios being considered to accommodate permit holders in Parking Lot 2, who would be displaced if the Village proceeds with plans to sell that parcel to a developer who wants to build ten residential townhouses on the site, located on the northeast corner of Harris and 6th Aves.